Written Answers Monday 10 August 2009

Scottish Executive

Access for Disabled People

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and which railway stations do not conform to disability access standards under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, broken down by region.

Stewart Stevenson: Disability access standards are not governed by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The standards are contained within Accessible Train and Station Design for Disabled People: A Code of Practice , published by the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland in 2008.

  Compliance with the code of practice is only required when major station improvement work takes place and does not apply retrospectively.

  There are 124 stations across Scotland that can be viewed as not having step free access to all platforms, and therefore are not fully accessible for people with reduced mobility. These can be broken down by Regional Transport Partnership as:

  Highlands and Islands – 20.

  North East – 3.

  South East – 17.

  South West – 1.

  Strathclyde – 69.

  Tayside and Central – 14.

Access for Disabled People

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when each railway station was last assessed for accessibility, broken down by (a) region, (b) station and (c) date of survey.

Stewart Stevenson: In 2004, ScotRail surveyed all 347 stations in Scotland to gather information about station facilities, which included disabled access to and within each station. This information is reviewed and updated on an annual basis and is included in their Disabled Persons Protection Policy which is published each October and is available online and at every staffed station across Scotland.

  Throughout 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has carried out surveys at every station across Scotland. The surveys will be used for a new online service for disabled passengers as well as for the general public. It is expected to go live in October 2009.

  In 2008-09, Network Rail has completed detailed disabled access surveys at 28 stations across Scotland as part of Transport Scotland’s Access for All small schemes programme.

Access for Disabled People

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to improve the accessibility of railway stations and, if so, how many and which stations will be improved in the next five years.

Stewart Stevenson: Major access improvements will be delivered through re-development of 14 stations over the next five years:

  Airdrie – Easterhouse.

  Bathgate – Haymarket.

  Croy – Hyndland.

  Cupar – Linlithgow.

  Dalmuir – Montrose.

  Drumgelloch – Perth.

  Dunlop – Stewarton.

  It is anticipated a further four stations will be identified by Transport Scotland for major access improvements through the Access for All programme.

  Further stations will undergo small scale disabled access improvements through the Access for All small schemes fund and through ScotRail’s Minor Works. These are annual budgets where improvements will be identified as a rolling programme over the next five years.

  Twelve new stations will be built to the current disabled access standards as required in the next five years.

Concessionary Travel

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many companies have been found guilty of abusing or defrauding the national concessionary travel scheme since 2006.

Stewart Stevenson: No bus operator that has been reported to the Police has been referred through the court process.

Concessionary Travel

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of suspected abuse or fraud of the national concessionary travel scheme have been referred to the police since 2006; how many are ongoing, and how many have resulted in a successful prosecution.

Stewart Stevenson: Since the introduction of the scheme in 2006, three have been referred to the Police, all are on going, however none have yet been called to court.

Concessionary Travel

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will name and shame any companies found to have abused or defrauded the national concessionary travel scheme.

Stewart Stevenson: Within the Transport Scotland concessionary travel and integrated ticketing unit’s fraud strategy, it is stated that we will seek media opportunities in respect of any prosecutions.

Concessionary Travel

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money is suspected to have been abusively or fraudulently claimed from the national concessionary travel scheme since 2006 and how much has subsequently been retrieved by Transport Scotland.

Stewart Stevenson: Ongoing validation of concessionary travel claims by bus operators means that claims are routinely scrutinised by the concessionary travel and integrated ticketing unit. This process can result in adjustments being made to claims submitted by bus operators. However, these adjustments are not always as a result of intentional overclaims and, on occasion, can result in an increased payment to that which was originally claimed.

  The total claimed against the scheme from 2006 is in the region of £510 million and the total reimbursed is in the region of £506 million.

Concessionary Travel

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to limit or prevent abusive or fraudulent claims to the national concessionary travel scheme.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland does not automatically reimburse bus operators on the figures submitted in their claim. Staff within the concessionary travel and integrated ticketing unit undertake a regular programme of audit inspections to examine the claim compilation and submission procedures being used by operators, and to carry out checks on the detailed information behind the claims which is available from the operators’ ticketing systems.

  In addition, a programme of on-bus surveys is currently in place whereby information is collected about the general operation of the scheme, various details of the cardholders’ journeys and in particular cardholders’ boarding and alighting points.

  The output from these surveys is used to provide information to Transport Scotland’s reimbursement and validation staff for comparing with the revenue foregone or average fare data submitted in the operators’ claims. If discrepancies are found, the reimbursement is adjusted accordingly.

Firearms

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, how many of the 1,125 firearm offences recorded by the police in 2007-08, were (a) proceeded against and (b) prosecuted, broken down by type of disposal, including whether the length of the custodial sentence was (i) up to three months, (ii) between three and six months, (iii) between six months and two years, (iv) over two and less than four years, (v) four years and over, (vi) life or (vii) indeterminate detention.

Kenny MacAskill: Information about recorded crimes and offences involving firearms are reported by the eight police forces in Scotland to the Scottish Government at an incident level. It is not possible to identify from these returns how many of the individual offences resulted in individuals subsequently being proceeded against in court.

Firearms

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of sentence was of people convicted of firearms offences in 2007-08 who received a custodial sentence.

Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the table below. These figures refer to persons with a charge proved for an offence which relate specifically to firearms rather than all offences in which a firearm is alleged to have been used, which would include, for example, homicide, serious assault, robbery and other violent crimes.

  Persons Receiving a Custodial Sentence in Scottish Courts for Firearms Offences1, by Average Sentence, 2007-08

  

 Offence
 Number of Custodial Sentences
 Average Sentence (Days)


 Possess a firearm with intent to endanger life, commit crime etc.
 18
 878


 Reckless conduct with firearms 
 8
 961


 Firearms, Miscellaneous Offences2
 35
 1,158



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Including: possession of a firearm without valid certificate, carrying a firearm in a public place and possession of a weapon subject to general prohibition.

Forth Crossing

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive in what way the changes made to the Forth Replacement Crossing proposals since January 2009 are "a strategy which makes efficient use of existing infrastructure, is more cost effective and reduces the impact on the environment, properties and the local communities", as stated on page eight of the Forth Replacement Crossing Public Information Exhibitions: Feedback and Outcomes Report , published in June 2009.

Stewart Stevenson: The strategy referred to in page eight of the publication was announced to Parliament in December 2008, following intensive work undertaken throughout that year. Since January 2009, the scheme has been improved by the provision of further public transport infrastructure at South Queensferry, the relocation of the new junction proposed for South Queensferry and the redesign of the access road serving North Queensferry.

Forth Crossing

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much Transport Scotland has spent on communications and consultation in relation to the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

Stewart Stevenson: Since December 2007, when I announced to Parliament the decision to proceed with a replacement bridge, approximately £728,000 has been spent on a significant and sustained programme of communications and stakeholder engagement. This includes the public information exhibitions and the publication of key documents.

Forth Crossing

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings Transport Scotland officials have had specifically with residents from (a) Linn Mill, (b) Clufflats, (c) Clufflats Brae, (d) Inchgarvie House and Lodge, (e) Dundas Home Farm, (f) Echline Estate, (g) Springfield Estate, (h) Society Road, (i) Gateside Estate and (j) other parts of the Queensferry and Kirkliston area likely to be affected by the Forth Replacement Crossing project and when those meetings took place.

Stewart Stevenson: The ongoing Forth Replacement Crossing communications strategy has involved significant and sustained engagement with affected communities, more widely affected or interested stakeholders and their appropriate elected members. Community engagement takes place through exhibitions, briefing sessions, group meetings, 1-2-1 meetings, newsletters, the project website and correspondence.

  In addition to meetings with private landowners, the following group meetings have been held with the residents from the areas specified:

  

 Group
 Meetings


 Linn Mill 
 Residents Association Meetings in June 2008 and July 2009


 Clufflats, Clufflat Brae, Inchgarvie House and Lodge, Echline Farm, Springfield Estate, Society Road
 Briefing session - invitation by maildrop to approx 650 addresses, June 2009


 Dundas Home Farm
 Meeting with residents in April and July 2009


 Gateside Estate, Kirkliston Estate
 Meetings with Kirkliston Community Council in April 2008, May 2009 and July 2009


 Queensferry and District Community Council 
 Briefing sessions in April 2008, September 2008, January 2009, March 2009 and June 2009


 Almond Partnership
 Meeting held on 18 June 2009

Forth Crossing

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the environmental statement for the Forth Replacement Crossing project will be published.

Stewart Stevenson: The environmental statement (ES) for the Forth Replacement Crossing project will be published to coincide with the introduction of the Bill to Parliament.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were (a) prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2007-08 for handling an offensive weapon and (b) on bail at the time of the offence.

Kenny MacAskill: There were 376 persons with a charge proved for handling offensive weapons (where main offence) in the Lothians region in 2007-08, of which 67 had a bail aggravator recorded against them, indicating that the offence was committed while the offender was on bail.

  These data are based on an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas.

  Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were (a) prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2006-07 for handling an offensive weapon and (b) on bail at the time of the offence.

Kenny MacAskill: There were 446 persons with a charge proved for handling offensive weapons (where main offence) in the Lothians region in 2006-07, of which 79 had a bail aggravator recorded against them, indicating that the offence was committed while the offender was on bail.

  These data are based on an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas.

  Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2007-08 for handling an offensive weapon had previously been prosecuted for such an offence, broken down by main penalty issued.

Kenny MacAskill: There were 376 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts in the Lothians region for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08. This relates to 367 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.

  The following table shows the number of these individuals who had previously been proceeded against for the same offence at least once in the previous 10 years (based on the date of sentence for both the latest and previous offence).

  Number of individuals proceeded against in the Lothians region1 for handling an offensive weapon2 3 in 2007-08 who had previously been proceeded against4 for such an offence, by main penalty for the prior offence.

  

 Main Penalty Issued
 Number of Individuals


 Custody
 23


 Community sentence
 17


 Monetary
 17


 Charge proved - Other5
 1


 Not guilty
 6


 Total
 64



  Notes:

  1. Based upon an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas.

  2. Where main offence.

  3. Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

  4. Previous prosecution derived from sentence date of latest and prior offence.

  5. Including caution, admonition, absolute discharge and remit to children’s hearing.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2006-07 for handling an offensive weapon had previously been prosecuted for such an offence, broken down by main penalty issued.

Kenny MacAskill: There were 446 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts in the Lothians region for handling an offensive weapon in 2006-07. This relates to 430 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.

  The following table shows the number of these individuals who had previously been proceeded against for the same offence at least once in the previous 10 years (based on the date of sentence for both the latest and previous offence).

  Number of individuals proceeded against in the Lothians region1 for handling an offensive weapon2 3 in 2006-07 who had previously been proceeded against4 for such an offence, by main penalty for the prior offence

  

 Main Penalty Issued
 Number of Individuals


 Custody
 29


 Community sentence
 18


 Monetary
 26


 Charge proved - Other5
 2


 Not guilty
 8


 Total
 83



  Notes:

  1. Based upon an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas.

  2. Where main offence.

  3. Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

  4. Previous prosecution derived from sentence date of latest and prior offence.

  5. Including caution, admonition, absolute discharge and remit to children’s hearing.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2007-08 for handling an offensive weapon had a criminal record at the time of prosecution, broken down by most recent offence.

Kenny MacAskill: There were 376 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts in the Lothians region for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08. This relates to 367 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.

  Information about whether or not individuals had a criminal record at the time of prosecution is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the number of these individuals who had a previous charge proved in court at least once in the previous 10 years. The previous charge has been identified as having a date of sentence which is earlier than the date of sentence for the latest charge of handling an offensive weapon.

  The source of this information is the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database, which is derived from data held on the Criminal History System. Prosecution in court is only one of a range of possible options for dealing with an individual who has been charged with an offence. Other actions include the use of fiscal warnings, diversion to social work, fixed penalty notices and fiscal fines. However, these alternatives to court prosecution are not currently held on the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database and are not included in the following data provided.

  Number of individuals proceeded against in the Lothians1 region for handling an offensive weapon2 3 in 2007-08 who had a previous charge4 proved in court, by main crime5 for that offence.

  

Main Crime
 
Number of Individuals


All Crimes
Non-sexual Crimes of Violence
 


 
Serious assault and attempted murder
5


 
Robbery
4


 
Other
1


 
Crimes of Indecency 
 


 
Lewd and indecent behaviour 
1


 
Other 
1


 
Crimes of Dishonesty 
 


 
Housebreaking 
12


 
Theft by opening a lockfast place 
4


 
Theft of/from a motor vehicle 
2


 
Shoplifting 
23


 
Other theft 
8


 
Fraud 
1


 
Other 
2


 
Fire-raising, Vandalism, etc 
 


 
Vandalism etc 
11


 
Other Crimes 
 


 
Crimes against public justice 
23


 
Handling an offensive weapon 
15


 
Drugs 
21


All Offences
Miscellaneous Offences 
 


 
Common assault 
41


 
Breach of the peace 
30


 
Other 
7


 
Motor Vehicle Offences 
 


 
Dangerous and careless driving 
3


 
Drunk driving 
11


 
Speeding 
3


 
Unlawful use of vehicle 
27


 
Vehicle defect offences 
6


 
Other 
8


Total
 
270



  Notes:

  1. Based upon an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas.

  2. Where main offence.

  3. Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

  4. Where there was more than one previous charge the most recent was selected.

  5. The crime categories used are the same as in the Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts Statistical Bulletin.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2006-07 for handling an offensive weapon had a criminal record at the time of prosecution, broken down by most recent offence.

Kenny MacAskill: There were 446 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts in the Lothians region for handling an offensive weapon in 2006-07. This relates to 430 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.

  Information about whether or not individuals had a criminal record at the time of prosecution is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the number of these individuals who had a previous charge proved in court at least once in the previous 10 years. The previous charge has been identified as having a date of sentence which is earlier than the date of sentence for the latest charge of handling an offensive weapon.

  The source of this information is the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database, which is derived from data held on the Criminal History System. Prosecution in court is only one of a range of possible options for dealing with an individual who has been charged with an offence. Other actions include the use of fiscal warnings, diversion to social work, fixed penalty notices and fiscal fines. However, these alternatives to court prosecution are not currently held on the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database and are not included in the following data provided.

  Number of individuals proceeded against in the Lothians1 region for handling an offensive weapon2 3 in 2006-07 who had a previous charge4 proved in court, by main crime5 for that offence.

  

 Main Crime
 
 Number of Individuals


 All Crimes 
 Non-sexual Crimes of Violence
 


 
 Serious assault and attempted murder
 5


 
 Robbery 
 1


 
 Other 
 1


 
 Crimes of Indecency 
 


 
 Lewd and indecent behaviour 
 1


 
 Other 
 1


 
 Crimes of Dishonesty 
 


 
 Housebreaking 
 12


 
 Theft by opening a lockfast place 
 9


 
 Theft of/from a motor vehicle 
 7


 
 Shoplifting 
 33


 
 Other theft 
 14


 
 Fraud 
 4


 
 Other 
 5


 
 Fire-raising, Vandalism, etc 
 


 
 Vandalism etc 
 19


 
 Other Crimes 
 


 
 Crimes against public justice 
 19


 
 Handling an offensive weapon 
 23


 
 Drugs 
 28


 All Offences
 Miscellaneous Offences 
 


 
 Common assault 
 34


 
 Breach of the peace 
 58


 
 Other 
 6


 
 Motor Vehicle Offences 
 


 
 Dangerous and careless driving 
 4


 
 Drunk driving 
 7


 
 Speeding 
 2


 
 Unlawful use of vehicle 
 24


 
 Vehicle defect offences 
 1


 
 Other 
 4


 All
 
 322



  Notes:

  1. Based upon an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas.

  2. Where main offence.

  3. Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

  4. Where there was more than one previous charge the most recent was selected.

  5. The crime categories used are the same as in the Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts Statistical Bulletin.

Planning

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether national planning guidelines have been strengthened to give greater protection to green spaces for sport and informal recreational activity, particularly in urban and deprived communities.

Stewart Stevenson: SPP11 was revised in November 2007 to strengthen policy on open space protection. SPP 11 continues the presumption against redevelopment of valued open space, with new requirements for sportscotland to be consulted on a wider range of applications for developments affecting outdoor sports facilities. As required by SPP11, local authority open space audits and strategies are now feeding into the development plan process, providing a more comprehensive approach to identifying, protecting and enhancing open space which meets community needs. The SPP states that it is particularly important to ensure that disadvantaged communities have accessible open space of good quality.

Roads

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many objectors to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route took part in the public local inquiry.

Stewart Stevenson: Thirty two different groups and individuals presented evidence to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route public local inquiry. This included, amongst others, action groups, community councils, councillors and building developers. In addition to this, 34 witnesses were called by these parties.

Roads

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many objectors to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route were disallowed from taking part in the public local inquiry on the basis of the limits to its scope and remit.

Stewart Stevenson: The reporters did not disallow any party from taking part in the public local inquiry, but they did disallow parts of some parties evidence that did not fall within the remit of their appointment. In addition to this, some evidence was not taken into account because it was not submitted on time.

Roads

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many objections to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route were discounted on the basis of the limits to the scope and remit of the public local inquiry.

Stewart Stevenson: The reporters appointed to conduct the public local inquiry, and to report to Scottish ministers into objections received against the proposed Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, have considered all objections passed to them by Transport Scotland. The remit of the inquiry was set by Scottish ministers and in preparing their report to ministers, the reporters have only reported on matters that fell within this remit. Approximately 10,000 letters of objection were considered by the reporters and many of these letters contained multiple objections. The reporters did not keep a record of the number of letters or objections that fell outwith the remit of the inquiry.

Transport

Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people hold car licences, also broken down by age group.

Stewart Stevenson: As a reserved matter, this information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government but collected by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Transport

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what type of traffic surveys have been carried out to monitor the volume of traffic and pollution levels in the Rosyth area in each of the last 10 years and what the findings were.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland automatically collects daily traffic count information from a number of sites within the Rosyth area. The data can be found at:

  http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/traffic-count/map-application.

  This data assists with the ongoing monitoring of traffic flow and volume throughout the trunk road network. In addition, during the last 10 years, specific separate traffic count, journey time and noise monitoring surveys were carried out along the A985 between 2004 and 2005.

  As local authorities have responsibility for monitoring air pollution levels, Fife Council is required to monitor air quality throughout Fife. Fife has three locations which measure air quality every hour using automatic monitoring equipment. These are located at Dunfermline, Cupar and Rosyth. The data can be found at:

  http://www.scottishairquality.co.uk/index.php?site_id=ROSY&t_action=data#site_info.

Transport

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to commission traffic and pollution surveys in the Rosyth area in the next two years.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland have no current plans to commission traffic and pollution surveys in the Rosyth area in the next two years.

Transport

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support the provision of a park and choose facility at (a) Rosyth and (b) Halbeath.

Stewart Stevenson: Park and Ride/Park and Choose schemes are delivered by local authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships.

  However, within the first six months of the 2007 election, the Scottish Government signed a concordat with CoSLA which provided local authorities with record levels of funding over the spending review period 2008-11. This will empower local authorities to deliver improved local transport solutions through increased freedom over how they plan, manage and fund services on the basis of their assessment of local needs and priorities.

  The Scottish Government has published Park and Ride for Buses: A National Framework on 30 June 2009 and has also enhanced its manifesto commitment by taking Park and Ride/Park and Choose into account through Intervention 8 of the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) which includes indicative Park and Ride/Park and Choose sites at Halbeath and Pitreavie (near Rosyth).

  Transport Scotland will therefore continue to engage with local authorities and SESTRANS in taking the park and choose recommendations for Halbeath and Pitreavie forward.